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Africa, [May 1, 2012]
–Jack Sullivan–
“Hmm,” He yawned as he kept his gaze on a specific spot that was right above the primitive-looking Border Tribe settling. He was doing that on purpose because his barriers, the hundreds of minuscule ones that he had conjured and had them move around his position, had given him the feedback of multiple objects hovering silently in that place. In response to that, he had also beefed up his protection as he was once again back in his Power Ranger armour. He was sure they knew what he was looking at so he was once again subjected to the barely hidden hostility from the border tribe members who kept looking at him and did a very poor job of keeping their anxiety hidden.
Honestly, what was taking so long for T’Chaka? It had been over 20 minutes since he had handed over Klaue, arguably their biggest enemy in recent times, and yet, he could see neither hair nor hide of either T’Chaka or T’Challa or even the Dora Milaje. He could understand them maintaining the pompousness of their post but he could have at least sent the Dora Milaje to invite him inside or just come down here if they did not want someone of his powers inside their kingdom.
“Oh, finally,” He said and jumped down from the block of Vibranium as he saw that the Dora Milaje had arrived in one of their hoverboats. He could not see any of the members of the Royal Family but that was quite understandable considering the security risk it represented. He stood in front of the block of Vibranium, which was still opaque so they had no idea what was inside the block but he had no doubt that they would sooner than later ask him about the stolen Vibranium.
“Outsider,” Okoye, the general of Dora Milaje, nodded at him and that was probably the most respectful greeting he was going to get from these people, it would seem. He smirked under his mask and decided to mess with them a bit as compensation for all the waiting he had to do in this hot sun.
“General of Dora Milaje, Okoye,” He nodded his head while laughing his ass off inside. The effect was immediate. The light tensing and the minute flinching of all the people who had accompanied her was very much evident to his enhanced eyes. A normal person with normal eyesight might have missed it but he was so far above them that it was not even funny.
“You…know of us?” Okoye, after taking a pause, asked him and it took all he had in him to not just blurt out, ‘No shit!’
Instead, he leaned on the block of Vibranium behind him and said, “Yes, I know of lots of things. For example, you, Okoye, are arguably the strongest warrior in all of Wakanda save for the Black Panthers. Oh, is King T’Chaka still the Black Panther or did he pass the mantle on to T’Challa yet? I also know you guys are not the poor African country you try to pass yourself as although you probably already knew that considering you brought in vehicles the outside world would not even see for another what? 10-20 years?”
The more he spoke, the tighter the Dora Milaje held onto their Vibranium spears. He had also tensed internally in preparation for some confrontation but on the outside, he kept on babbling sensitive information about Wakanda that should not be known to any outsider. They had killed people for less and here he was, spilling out information like it was just worthless candy and not something the Western world would sell their firstborn babies for.
“Stop!” Eventually, Okoye’s patience ran out as she waved for her fellow Dora Milaje to lower their spears. She then turned to him and ground out her next words, “WHAT.DO.YOU.WANT,”
Oh, that was a lot of venom in that tone and a lot of restraint as well. Well, color him surprised as he felt more and more of those jets arriving in front of him, probably in preparation for a fight but Okoye was doing a splendid job of holding it together. Probably because she was aware that any fight between them would bring about the ruin of Wakanda. Though, he was not sure if the barrier that surrounded Wakanda would hide his energy signature or not, or if it just muted it so that nobody would find anything. His energy signature was pretty distinct though and doing any sort of high-handed movement would be very easily traceable. That was why he had limited himself to just 5 barriers at any given time when he had stolen Klaue’s stash.
He waited a bit to reply before making a dramatic show of shaking his head and then floating back up to sit cross-legged back on the Vibranium block, “Like I said, I just want to talk to King T’Chaka. It doesn’t matter if it is here or in Birnin Zana. I just want to talk. Look, you do realise that if I wanted to, I could have just opened a portal straight into your city? Just relay my message and then tell me what your King decides. Honestly, I thought he would have come here personally. Go. Shoo shoo,” He mockingly waved at her and then went back to laying on his back with his hands behind his head. The sound of teeth grinding could be heard all the way up as Okoye just stomped back with all the Dora Milaje following her.
Honestly, this might have been the first time that Okoye had felt that powerless. Being powerless was not a nice feeling and Okoye's feeling that if she made one wrong move, her country might fall into the horrors of war made her conscious enough to stay her hand otherwise if it was someone else who was outright threatening her, she probably would have driven a spear straight through their heart before asking any questions.
He could hear animated arguments from their side before the jets that were cloaked began disappearing one by one until only a single one remained that revealed itself and landed lightly 50 feet in front of him. Huh, so they chose that path then.
“King T’Chaka has granted your request for an audience,” Okoye came up to him and ground out. He raised an eyebrow at the phrasing of that sentence but he was alright with them posturing a bit. Everybody knew who held the real power between them so he was alright with that.
“Lead the way,” He bowed at her and then floated in the air, along with the stash of Vibranium. She probably expected him to just get in the jet but he shook his head and flew straight ahead and stopped just at the edge of their barrier. He heard their jet turning immediately and even some of the weapons activating but they stopped midway when they realised that he was waiting for them and not attacking their shields. The jet then came in front of him and the hangar behind him opened up, revealing Okoye who was standing at the edge, tethered just by her spear, which was badass in his opinion.
She glared at him, “What is in that box?” She shouted and he obliged her question as the shields surrounding it became translucent. Okoye squinted her eyes to look closer and then her eyes widened as she realised what it was. She took another long look at him and nodded her eyes. She then immediately turned around and started barking orders, the hangar closing up right behind her. The jet then slowly began moving forward and he did the same.
It was an odd sensation, going through the barrier that separated their city from the rest of the world. The barrier itself was different from the ones he had sensed being used in Kamar Taj. It was a physical barrier as well as an illusion shield. As he passed through the multiple layers of the barrier, he realised that the barrier had other functions as well. Apparently, it had some sort of filter as well. It would make sense considering that the water and air in Birnin Zana was purer than everywhere on Earth, owing to their barriers and advanced filtration technology. He passed through no less than six different layers of the barrier before the picturesque country of Wakanda became visible to him.
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The difference was like day and night. Outside, there was vegetation but due to the presumed scarcity of water, it was mostly grass and a bit of light tree cover. Inside, however, it was a whole nother story. Entire mountains were covered with greenery as far as his eyes could see. The city itself was awesome to look at too. Sprawling buildings were very few as most of the buildings seemed to only be about two or three stories tall.
Of course, the Royal Palace was another thing altogether. IT stood on elevated land, placing it far above even the tallest building in the city. Then the palace itself looked fairly royal but also modern. There was a small airstrip where there were already people and an entire squadron of Dora Milaje waiting for them. Of course, before landing, his eyes glazed over the huge mountain that seemed to block out the sun. That was probably the mountain that hid the Great Mound that Wakanda was blessed with.
As soon as the jet landed, he lightly landed in front of the waiting jet, right in front of King T’Chaka who was in his royal garb. T’Chala was waiting at his side, in a formal suit, not in his Black Panther suit but judging by his age, he must have the powers for a while now.
“King T’Chaka,” He nodded at King T’Chaka, acknowledging him as an equal instead of someone with higher authority than him. He could hear some of them hiss but it stopped when the King nodded back at him.
“Greetings, Outsider. Forgive me for the less than adequate welcome but we are thankful for the gift you have given us. Come,” T’Chaka said and gestured for them to move inside.
He obliged and started following him only to stop when he stopped as well, “Ah, Can I ask you to uncover the stolen Vibranium?”
He emphasised on the stolen part more than he should have, probably because he thought that he might ask for something in exchange for the Vibranium. Well, jokes on him because he had no interest in Vibranium at the moment so he just nodded and then dispelled the barriers surrounding it. He was pleased to see King T’Chaka’s eyes widening minutely at the display but he didn’t call him out on it.
Soon, they reached the Throne room where Queen Ramonda and T’Challa were waiting for them. As soon as T’Chaka sat down on his throne, he bowed slightly, “Queen Ramonda, Prince T’Challa”
“And therein lies the problem, Green Guardian of New York,” T’Chaka said as his gaze sharpened on him, even as Dora Milaje flooded the Throne room and positioned themselves all around the room.
Ugh, he hated that moniker. What the hell even is a Green Guardian? Stupid media do not know how to do their jobs and create a catchy name. Now, it was stuck, and seeing that even the king of foreign countries addressed him with that name, there was little chance he could get rid of that moniker, even if wanted to.
“How do you know so much about Wakanda? No outsider is privy to the information you are and yet, you stand in front of us, revealing information that would have normally gotten you killed,” T’Chaka continued, Ramonda and T’Challa nodding along even though he saw T’Challa’s brows furrowing as T’Chaka said the killing part.
Good, at least there was a chance the new generation would not repeat the same mistakes that their ancestors did. All that was left was to figure out if T’Challa knew about the killings of prominent scientists and see how to go ahead from there.
As for the question from the King, he sighed and answered, “Well, King T’Chaka, I know far more than I should and I guess that would make you nervous but I can assure you, I am not your enemy,”
“Empty words. How can we trust the words of a stranger who even refuses to show his face,” T’Chaka scoffed at his words.
Hmm, that was true. What to do now? He couldn’t show them his face because that would just needlessly endanger Pops and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Honestly, he had no need of Pops. With his powers, he could have made himself a home anywhere in the world and operated from there without anyone being the wiser. Defeating street-level unpowered criminals was never supposed to be his job. He was just…lonely. Yes, he was lonely. With his powers, he could have gone anywhere and he would have gotten anything he wanted but he could not get someone who would truly listen to him. He had gone to Pops because he knew, he knew from his memories that Pop would accept someone who was not normal. Someone who had powers beyond the ken and even then, Pops would consider them as fellow humans and help them out of the goodness of his heart.
So, no, he would not endanger Pops. Nothing will make him do that.
But, it was not as if he could not have some fun with the situation. So, he sighed and dispelled the mask around his face, causing the Queen to gasp.
His entire body was laid bare for everyone, well not truly, but to the visible eye, it looked the same. His face was now completely green but it was not exactly a face. It was just a flowing green flame-like pattern with two glowing dots in the middle posing as eyes. He also had a rectangular slit where his mouth was supposed to be. All in all, a pretty ghastly inhuman presence.
“This is my true face, King T’Chaka. You can understand why I choose to hide it,”
“Are you even…human?” T’Chaka leaned forward and asked him as he once again donned his masked armour.
The sigh could be heard by everyone in the room, “I suppose I will have to answer that question many times so might as well get it out of the way. Yes, I am human. I was born human but once I activated my powers, my face changed to become this. Yes, I bleed red. No, I will not tell you more.”
“Very well, I thank you for returning the stolen Vibranium, even if some of it is missing, and Klaue, our greatest criminal, to us. You wanted an audience with us, speak your mind,”
Well, here goes nothing.
“Well, first of all, I just wanted to ask if T’Challa already is the Black Panther or not?”
It was T’Challa who responded this time, “Yes, I am the current Black Panther, Guardian of Wakanda,”
He nodded, “Good good,”
“Okay, I don’t have anything specific to ask of you. I just wanted to ask if you have ever tried to help the outside world?” He asked the entire room.
“I am not asking that of Wakanda. I am asking if you, outside of official channels, have ever helped the outside world advance in some way. Maybe not in military or space matters but at least in medicine? Or in clean energy? Water? Food? Anything?” The more he asked, the darker everybody’s faces got. T’Challa in particular was looking down with his fists clenched.
The resounding silence in the room was telling enough.
He sighed as his shoulders drooped in resignation. “I see. Well, I guess I understand, your country would be in danger if it was ever revealed to the world and I totally understand not helping officially but there must be something you could have done?”
Still no response. Well, he had no patience to deal with spineless cowards anyway.
So, his tone grew icy cold as he continued, “I see. Well, can’t say I didn’t see that coming. Hopefully, the next generation will change things. I brought you Klaue because I do not want Vibranium to be available in the black market for nefarious entities. I also had hoped that you would listen to my request but judging from everything I have seen, it would be too outrageous for you. I just…hope that you try. At Least try and help someone. Even if it is little. I know you guys already have the cure to cancer, global warming, clean water, and more. Millions of people die every year because of one or more of those reasons. Just..something to think about.”
He waved his hand and a portal opened on top of him. The response was swift. Energy weapons emerged from the ceilings as T’Challa and the Dora Milaje took on combat positions even as T’Chaka remained still like a statue.
“T’Challa, I hope you do better. Until we meet again,” He said as the portal moved down, transporting him to an underwater cave he had seen in a documentary once.
Once there, he gave himself a once over, checking to see if any bugs had been planted on him and seeing that nothing was detected even from his spells, he opened another portal to his loft and promptly dumped himself on his bed, mentally exhausted from the ordeal.
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Word Count - 2967
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